Prince Turki was a member of a panel discussion at the symposium on “Reassessing Renewable Energies,” moderated by The Guardian‘s environmental correspondent Fiona Harvey herself. She quotes the prince as saying: “Oil is more precious for us underground than as a fuel source. If we can get to the point where we can replace fossil fuels and use oil to produce other products that are useful, that would be very good for the world. I wish that may be in my lifetime, but I don’t think it will be.”

Harvey writes that Saudi Arabia is currently powered almost entirely by fossil fuels — about two-thirds of that is oil and the rest mostly natural gas. The potential for solar power in sunny Saudi Arabia is very good, though. In May 2012, a Saudi representative said that the nation plans to invest over $100 billion to develop 41 gigawatts of solar power by 2032. In April, the country opened a 388,000-square-foot solar thermal plant in Riyadh, reported to be the world’s largest such plant.

They have tried to look ahead and why they kept oil prices low for many yrs so just such tech wouldn't replace their main product, oil.
But they like much of OPEC know their reserves are much lower than they claim + they don't have the output to keep prices low anymore.
Most RE are simple low cost machines, devices that already in mass production are lowing cost than oil or even coal.
--- Wind, PV, Solar CSP, biomass CHP, tidal, etc are all more simple than a moped or an A/C unit.
---- In fact an A/C unit run in reverse as a heat engine with either biomass/CHP or solar/CSP collector or both can supply all needed power and heat a home or building plus EV's needed at reasonable cost once in mass production at about $2k/kw.
-----Wind is just a 2kw alternator, some 6' blades and a few other simple parts is also under $2k/kw. A combo of most any 2 of wind, CSP, CHP, PV for under $6k can power an eff home of 1000sq' and EV's for 20-50 yrs and SA knows this and getting ready for the end of the oil, coal era. Remember the stone age didn't end because of a lack of stones.

Perhaps the Prince might entertain this idea ?
The solution to climate change
The primary source of GHG is fossil fuel burning electrical generating facilities. http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/causes/uploads/2012/01/GHG-emitters-2010.jpg
7 Billion humans generate vast quantities of excrement. I believe this excrement is capable of providing all human electrical demands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiolysis
Right now hydrogen is perceived as a negative by product, of Nuclear Energy, when it should be the product, as the Pentagon has considered. reference info Request for Information (RFI) on Deployable Reactor Technologies ... [email protected]
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d0792af88a6a4484b3aa9d0dfeaaf553&...
Large scale conversions sites are intended to replace fossil fuel powered electrical facilities the Primary Source of Carbon Emissions.
http://www.populist.com/99.12.krebs.blob.html
In what officials now say was a mistaken strategy to reduce the waste's volume, organic chemicals were added years ago which were being bombarded by radiation fields, resulting in unwanted hydrogen. The hydrogen was then emitted in huge releases that official studies call burps, causing "waste-bergs," chunks of waste floating on the surface, to roll over.
Dennis Baker
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